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Financial Analyst: Healthcare professionals, such as doctors, nurses, and pharmacists, rarely succeed when they manage financial projects. In fact, the average healthcare professional is less skilled at managing financial projects than the average management professional who does not work in a healthcare field. Successful management of financial projects requires strong quantitative skills. Therefore, the average management professional has stronger quantitative skills than the average healthcare professional.

Which of the following, if true, casts the most serious doubt on the conclusion drawn above?

(A) The education of an average healthcare professional includes about as many classes focused on quantitative skills as that of an average management professional.(B) Unlike the education of an average healthcare professional, that of an average management professional includes training in project management.(C) The average management professional has completed a higher level of mathematics than the average healthcare professional.(D) Project managers generally have more free time to dedicate to financial projects than most doctors.(E) Doctors, nurses, and pharmacists must use quantitative skills on a daily basis in order to be successful at their jobs.

Every question of the day will be followed by an expert reply by GMATNinja in 12-15 hours. Stay tuned! Post your answers and explanations to earn kudos.

We are also told that "the average healthcare professional is less skilled at managing financial projects than the average management professional who does not work in a healthcare field". How do we explain this observation?

The conclusion offers one possible explanation, but maybe there is another reason why the management professionals are more skilled at managing financial projects.

We are asked to select a statement that, if true, casts the most serious doubt on the conclusion, so let's take a look at the choices:

(A) Just because healthcare professionals and management professionals take about the same number of quant classes, does not necessarily mean that both groups have comparable quant skills. Perhaps one group took classes that were, on average, more advanced, or perhaps, on average, one group did very well in those classes and the other group did not. Taking the same number of quant classes might help explain why two groups have comparable quant skills, but this information does not cast serious doubt on the conclusion. (A) can be eliminated.

(B) If management professionals are trained in project management but healthcare professionals are not, that probably explains why management professionals are better at managing projects, including financial projects. Choice (B) provides an alternative to the explanation stated in the conclusion, and, thus, casts serious doubt on the conclusion. Let's keep choice (B).

(C) If the average management professional has completed a higher level of mathematics than the average healthcare professional, we would expect management professionals to have stronger quantitative skills. This statement supports the conclusion rather than casting doubt on the conclusion, so (C) can be eliminated.

(D) Choice (D) might explain why project managers are better at managing financial projects than doctors, but this statement only gives us information about one type of professional within each group. We still do not know if management professionals, on average, have more free time to dedicate to financial projects than most healthcare professionals. This evidence is not strong enough to cast serious doubt on the conclusion, so (D) can be eliminated.

(E) Just because doctors, nurses, and pharmacists use quantitative skills on a daily basis does not necessarily mean that their quantitative skills are stronger than those of a management professional. We also don't know which group--healthcare professionals or management professionals--uses more quantitative skills on a daily basis. Furthermore, the group using those skills less often could still have stronger quantitative skills than the other group. Choice (E) does not cast serious doubt on the conclusion, so (E) can be eliminated.

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14 Jun 2017, 09:04

A?This is a Weaken the Argument question. So we have to look for something that will make the conclusion less likely to be true. The Argument follows that strong quantitative skills are required for successful management of financial projects. Then, the average healthcare professional is less skilled at managing financial projects than average management professionals not in healthcare. The connection between these two premises is that healthcare professionals must then have weaker quantitative skills than non healthcare professionals. Essentially, we are looking for an answer choice that will show that this isn't necessarily true.

B - seems irrelevant because the argument doesn't talk about training in project managementC - seems to strengthen the argument a bit as it shows that non healthcare professionals would have better quant skills, making the conclusion more likely.D- seems irrelevant as free time is not part of the argumentE - says that healthcare professionals must use quant skills daily. That's great but how does that compare to non healthcare professionals? We should be looking for a comparative measure of quantitative competency.A shows that there is about an equal focus on quant skills between the two types of professionals, implying that quantitative skills should be about equal for the two.

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14 Jun 2017, 09:09

Financial Analyst: Healthcare professionals, such as doctors, nurses, and pharmacists, rarely succeed when they manage financial projects. In fact, the average healthcare professional is less skilled at managing financial projects than the average management professional who does not work in a healthcare field. Successful management of financial projects requires strong quantitative skills. Therefore, the average management professional has stronger quantitative skills than the average healthcare professional.

Which of the following, if true, casts the most serious doubt on the conclusion drawn above?

(A) The education of an average healthcare professional includes about as many classes focused on quantitative skills as that of an average management professional. - Irrelevant, since the argument talks about greater quant skills, higher classes doesnt necessarily results in higher quant skills(B) Unlike the education of an average healthcare professional, that of an average management professional includes training in project management.- Irrelevant, training in project management does not really mean that Quant skills will be better. Moreover this supports the argument and does not weaken it(C) The average management professional has completed a higher level of mathematics than the average healthcare professional. - Strengthener, supports the argument(D) Project managers generally have more free time to dedicate to financial projects than most doctors. - Correct choice, if doctors have less time, no matter even if they have higher quant skills they would still not be able to devote the time required to manage it(E) Doctors, nurses, and pharmacists must use quantitative skills on a daily basis in order to be successful at their jobs.- Supports the argument, incorrect

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Financial Analyst: Healthcare professionals, such as doctors, nurses, and pharmacists, rarely succeed when they manage financial projects. In fact, the average healthcare professional is less skilled at managing financial projects than the average management professional who does not work in a healthcare field. Successful management of financial projects requires strong quantitative skills. Therefore, the average management professional has stronger quantitative skills than the average healthcare professional.

Which of the following, if true, casts the most serious doubt on the conclusion drawn above?

(A) The education of an average healthcare professional includes about as many classes focused on quantitative skills as that of an average management professional.(B) Unlike the education of an average healthcare professional, that of an average management professional includes training in project management.(C) The average management professional has completed a higher level of mathematics than the average healthcare professional.(D) Project managers generally have more free time to dedicate to financial projects than most doctors.(E) Doctors, nurses, and pharmacists must use quantitative skills on a daily basis in order to be successful at their jobs.

Every question of the day will be followed by an expert reply by GMATNinja in 12-15 hours. Stay tuned! Post your answers and explanations to earn kudos.

(A) The education of an average healthcare professional includes about as many classes focused on quantitative skills as that of an average management professional.-- So what the conclusion is not hampered(B) Unlike the education of an average healthcare professional, that of an average management professional includes training in project management.- project management could have resulted in average management professional handling financial projects successfully. Alternate reason.(C) The average management professional has completed a higher level of mathematics than the average healthcare professional.----Strengthen(D) Project managers generally have more free time to dedicate to financial projects than most doctors.---- May weaken if it is assumed that devoting more time might result in successful management of financial projects(E) Doctors, nurses, and pharmacists must use quantitative skills on a daily basis in order to be successful at their jobs.--At least Strengthen_________________

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14 Jun 2017, 18:34

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souvik101990 wrote:

Financial Analyst: Healthcare professionals, such as doctors, nurses, and pharmacists, rarely succeed when they manage financial projects. In fact, the average healthcare professional is less skilled at managing financial projects than the average management professional who does not work in a healthcare field. Successful management of financial projects requires strong quantitative skills. Therefore, the average management professional has stronger quantitative skills than the average healthcare professional.

Which of the following, if true, casts the most serious doubt on the conclusion drawn above?

The correct answer will break the link from (1) (2) (3) to conclusion.

(A) The education of an average healthcare professional includes about as many classes focused on quantitative skills as that of an average management professional.This choice seems to strengthen the argument. If healthcare professionals have the same number of training classes about quantitative skills as do management professionals, then it's clear that (3) is true.

(B) Unlike the education of an average healthcare professional, that of an average management professional includes training in project management.CORRECT. This choice indicates that management professionals are often successful in managing financial projects not because they are better at quantitative skills but they are specially trained in project management. Healthcare professionals often fail in managing financial projects because they lack of essential knowledge of project management, not because they are weaker in quantitative skills.

(C) The average management professional has completed a higher level of mathematics than the average healthcare professional.This choice strengthens the argument. Management professionals have better quantitative skills so they could complete a higher level of mathematics.

(D) Project managers generally have more free time to dedicate to financial projects than most doctors.This choice is a good trap. Project managers generally have more time with financial projects, then it seems that they will be better at managing financial projects. However, even that healthcare professionals have less time with financial projects, why did they often fail in managing financial projects?

(E) Doctors, nurses, and pharmacists must use quantitative skills on a daily basis in order to be successful at their jobs.This choice strengthens the argument. If healthcare professionals practice quantitative skills everyday, it's supposed that they will be good at finance. However, why did they often fail in managing financial projects? _________________

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Financial Analyst: Healthcare professionals, such as doctors, nurses, and pharmacists, rarely succeed when they manage financial projects. In fact, the average healthcare professional is less skilled at managing financial projects than the average management professional who does not work in a healthcare field. Successful management of financial projects requires strong quantitative skills. Therefore, the average management professional has stronger quantitative skills than the average healthcare professional.

Which of the following, if true, casts the most serious doubt on the conclusion drawn above?

(A) The education of an average healthcare professional includes about as many classes focused on quantitative skills as that of an average management professional.(B) Unlike the education of an average healthcare professional, that of an average management professional includes training in project management.(C) The average management professional has completed a higher level of mathematics than the average healthcare professional.(D) Project managers generally have more free time to dedicate to financial projects than most doctors.(E) Doctors, nurses, and pharmacists must use quantitative skills on a daily basis in order to be successful at their jobs.

Every question of the day will be followed by an expert reply by GMATNinja in 12-15 hours. Stay tuned! Post your answers and explanations to earn kudos.

In my opinion A.

According to the argument1. Avg. health care professional is less skilled in financial projects than the average management professional.2. Successful management of financial projects requires strong quantitative skills. conclusion - management professionals have better quant skills than health care professionals.

Because of the quant skills avg. management professionals have, they have an edge over the health care professionals.

(A) The education of an average healthcare professional includes about as many classes focused on quantitative skills as that of an average management professional.- This option says that both types of professionals have been given the same opportunity to gain quant knowledge and have also gained same quant knowledge. This means that the quant skills of both the professionals should have been same. Consequently, as per the premise no. 2 , healthcare professionals should be equally better in quant skills than the management professionals. This clearly contradicts our conclusion. (B) Unlike the education of an average healthcare professional, that of an average management professional includes training in project management.- The argument relies on the assumption that if good in quants -> better skilled in financial projects. Project management is out of scope. Also, in the argument, there is no link between project management and financial projects. We can not say training in project management will make someone better skilled in financial projects.(C) The average management professional has completed a higher level of mathematics than the average healthcare professional.- This is the opposite of what we need. This slightly helps to prove our conclusion - why management professional is better than healthcare professional.(D) Project managers generally have more free time to dedicate to financial projects than most doctors.- It is nowhere mentioned whether professionals become better in financial projects if they have free time to dedicate to financial projects.(E) Doctors, nurses, and pharmacists must use quantitative skills on a daily basis in order to be successful at their jobs.- This is clearly a claim. Does this helps to prove our conclusion . No.
_________________

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15 Jun 2017, 05:40

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(A) The education of an average healthcare professional includes about as many classes focused on quantitative skills as that of an average management professional. - This MAY weaken the argument, but we must make the asusmption that better education = better quant skills which may not necessarily be true. Let's keep this now but see if there are any better answers.(B) Unlike the education of an average healthcare professional, that of an average management professional includes training in project management. - This would give an alternative reason why average management professionals are better than healthcare professionals at managing projects. It's not because they are better at quant, but because they received more training. This is a greater weakener(C) The average management professional has completed a higher level of mathematics than the average healthcare professional. - Similar to A. We must make the assumption that higher level of mathematics = better at quant(D) Project managers generally have more free time to dedicate to financial projects than most doctors. - Very good trap answer. Note that the answers only compares project managers to DOCTORS! What about other healthcare professionals such as nurses and pharamacists? Even if the managers have more free time than doctors, they may have less free time than nurses or pharmacists but still be better at managing projects. Therefore, this is incorrect.(E) Doctors, nurses, and pharmacists must use quantitative skills on a daily basis in order to be successful at their jobs. - Does not compare healthcare professionals with management professional. Incorrect

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Financial Analyst: Healthcare professionals, such as doctors, nurses, and pharmacists, rarely succeed when they manage financial projects. In fact, the average healthcare professional is less skilled at managing financial projects than the average management professional who does not work in a healthcare field. Successful management of financial projects requires strong quantitative skills. Therefore, the average management professional has stronger quantitative skills than the average healthcare professional.

Which of the following, if true, casts the most serious doubt on the conclusion drawn above?

(A) The education of an average healthcare professional includes about as many classes focused on quantitative skills as that of an average management professional.(B) Unlike the education of an average healthcare professional, that of an average management professional includes training in project management.(C) The average management professional has completed a higher level of mathematics than the average healthcare professional.(D) Project managers generally have more free time to dedicate to financial projects than most doctors.(E) Doctors, nurses, and pharmacists must use quantitative skills on a daily basis in order to be successful at their jobs.

Every question of the day will be followed by an expert reply by GMATNinja in 12-15 hours. Stay tuned! Post your answers and explanations to earn kudos.

A - This doesn't help weaken the argument.B - This does help explain why avg. mgmt professionals are better able to manage financial projects than avg. healthcare professionals.C - This actually strengthens the conclusion.D - This is irrelevant as we need to make assumptions, and it's a generalisation hence incorrect.E - Irrelevant.

We are also told that "the average healthcare professional is less skilled at managing financial projects than the average management professional who does not work in a healthcare field". How do we explain this observation?

The conclusion offers one possible explanation, but maybe there is another reason why the management professionals are more skilled at managing financial projects.

We are asked to select a statement that, if true, casts the most serious doubt on the conclusion, so let's take a look at the choices:

(A) Just because healthcare professionals and management professionals take about the same number of quant classes, does not necessarily mean that both groups have comparable quant skills. Perhaps one group took classes that were, on average, more advanced, or perhaps, on average, one group did very well in those classes and the other group did not. Taking the same number of quant classes might help explain why two groups have comparable quant skills, but this information does not cast serious doubt on the conclusion. (A) can be eliminated.

(B) If management professionals are trained in project management but healthcare professionals are not, that probably explains why management professionals are better at managing projects, including financial projects. Choice (B) provides an alternative to the explanation stated in the conclusion, and, thus, casts serious doubt on the conclusion. Let's keep choice (B).

(C) If the average management professional has completed a higher level of mathematics than the average healthcare professional, we would expect management professionals to have stronger quantitative skills. This statement supports the conclusion rather than casting doubt on the conclusion, so (C) can be eliminated.

(D) Choice (D) might explain why project managers are better at managing financial projects than doctors, but this statement only gives us information about one type of professional within each group. We still do not know if management professionals, on average, have more free time to dedicate to financial projects than most healthcare professionals. This evidence is not strong enough to cast serious doubt on the conclusion, so (D) can be eliminated.

(E) Just because doctors, nurses, and pharmacists use quantitative skills on a daily basis does not necessarily mean that their quantitative skills are stronger than those of a management professional. We also don't know which group--healthcare professionals or management professionals--uses more quantitative skills on a daily basis. Furthermore, the group using those skills less often could still have stronger quantitative skills than the other group. Choice (E) does not cast serious doubt on the conclusion, so (E) can be eliminated.

Choice (B) is the best answer.

Hey GMATNinja

I want to know - why the same reasoning you gave for eliminating choice C, can't go with Choice B.

We are also told that "the average healthcare professional is less skilled at managing financial projects than the average management professional who does not work in a healthcare field". How do we explain this observation?

The conclusion offers one possible explanation, but maybe there is another reason why the management professionals are more skilled at managing financial projects.

We are asked to select a statement that, if true, casts the most serious doubt on the conclusion, so let's take a look at the choices:

(B) If management professionals are trained in project management but healthcare professionals are not, that probably explains why management professionals are better at managing projects, including financial projects. Choice (B) provides an alternative to the explanation stated in the conclusion, and, thus, casts serious doubt on the conclusion. Let's keep choice (B).

However, option B doesn't weaken the "conclusion". The argument states that management professionals are good at managing projects, and since managing projects requires good quant skills, they are good at quant. Thus we can say as per the argument that the ones who are managing projects or who have learnt to manage projects must be good in quants.

So the whole argument is about being good in quant. How does option B weaken the choice then?

Option B essentially states that management people received project training, thus as per our aforesaid understanding, they must be good at quant.

As per the above explanations and from what I understood from the option B, the option does provides an alternate explanation for better management of projects, but it doesn't state anything regarding as to why management people are NOT better at quant than healthcare people are.

Please throw some light on this. It is hard to digest that option B weakens the "CONCLUSION". In my honest opinion it doesn't.

We are also told that "the average healthcare professional is less skilled at managing financial projects than the average management professional who does not work in a healthcare field". How do we explain this observation?

The conclusion offers one possible explanation, but maybe there is another reason why the management professionals are more skilled at managing financial projects.

We are asked to select a statement that, if true, casts the most serious doubt on the conclusion, so let's take a look at the choices:

(B) If management professionals are trained in project management but healthcare professionals are not, that probably explains why management professionals are better at managing projects, including financial projects. Choice (B) provides an alternative to the explanation stated in the conclusion, and, thus, casts serious doubt on the conclusion. Let's keep choice (B).

However, option B doesn't weaken the "conclusion". The argument states that management professionals are good at managing projects, and since managing projects requires good quant skills, they are good at quant. Thus we can say as per the argument that the ones who are managing projects or who have learnt to manage projects must be good in quants.

So the whole argument is about being good in quant. How does option B weaken the choice then?

Option B essentially states that management people received project training, thus as per our aforesaid understanding, they must be good at quant.

As per the above explanations and from what I understood from the option B, the option does provides an alternate explanation for better management of projects, but it doesn't state anything regarding as to why management people are NOT better at quant than healthcare people are.

Please throw some light on this. It is hard to digest that option B weakens the "CONCLUSION". In my honest opinion it doesn't.

Regards

I agree with this statement: "Thus we can say as per the argument that the ones who are managing projects or who have learnt to manage projects must be good in quants." However, the conclusion is not that "the average management professional" is good at quant. The conclusion is that the average management professional has stronger quantitative skills than the average healthcare professional.

Yes, we have not weakened the idea that management professionals are good at quant. But do we know that they are better than the average healthcare professional? Being good at quant is a NECESSARY condition for successful management of financial projects, but it is not necessarily a SUFFICIENT condition. You might need quant skills, training in project management, good people skills, etc.

According to the author, not being good at managing financial projects is evidence that healthcare professionals are not good at quant, but this is not necessarily true. Perhaps they are good at quant and simply lack another NECESSARY condition (i.e. training in project management). By introducing this possibility, choice (B) does weaken the conclusion.

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